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Jains take to streets against cow slaughter

Mumbai November 7, 2012 (DNA): Around 5,000 Jains took out a rally from Panchratna building to Azad Maidan on Monday to put pressure on the state government to speed up the process of implementing the Gauvansh Vadh Pratibandh Bill to stop the slaughter of cows.

A section of Jains who participated in the rally said that the bill is awaiting the president's signature so that it can become a law. "The state assembly has already passed it and it should now be taken up," said Girish Shah of Samast Mahajan, one of the organisations that participated in the rally. Three prominent leaders from the BJP "MLA Mangal Lodha, former MLAs Raj Purohit and Atul Shah" participated in the rally. A Congress corporator was also a part of the rally. "Jains believe in non-violence and we feel that the killing of cows should stop," said Devendra Maharaj, a Jain monk.

On asked why the community chose not to have a rally against the killing of any form of life (which is central to Jainism) and stuck to only Gauvansh, Shah said, "If we demand a ban on slaughtering of all animals, it will not be met. Ultimately we do want that the killing of all animals is stopped, but we have to make a beginning somewhere. In this case, we are proceeding legally." Source: DNA